Carmike Q4 Earnings Far Exceed Estimates

Shares in the exhibition company are up more than 13% in after hours trading following a Q4 report that handily beat Wall Street forecasts. Carmike generated $1.7M in net income, up from a $3.1M loss in the same period in 2010, on revenues of $120.1M, up 4.3%. The revenue figure topped the $112.2M that analysts predicted. And earnings, at 14 cents a share, soared past the 5 cents that investors expected. The chain says that its attendance was up about 3% in contrast to the rest of the industry which saw domestic attendance fall 3%. This is the third consecutive quarter in which Carmike beat its peers, the company says. “Carmike’s operating strategy has shifted from primarily closing underperforming theatres and ‘refreshing’ existing facilities to once again growing our overall circuit, further expanding Carmike’s Small-Town America footprint,” CEO David Passman says. “We are targeting aggregate screen growth through new-builds, which include our Big D large format auditoriums and in select locations, such as our forthcoming Sandestin, FL entertainment complex, VIP dining options.” The company averaged 237 theaters and 2,259 screens in the quarter. Average attendance per screen was up about 1.9% to 5,046 — although the average admission payment per person dropped 4.5% to $6.76. But concession sales per person rose 11.2% to $3.77.